Kanye West's 'Jesus Is King' and the Unforgiving Church

Kanye West is like the proverbial prodigal son who after living a rebellious and wasteful life comes back to the embrace of the Father and his family - the Church. In his scenario, however, the Church is not very welcoming of Kanye.

Who is Kanye West?

Born Kanye Omari West from Atlanta Georgia, USA, he is a multiple award-winning rapper, singer and music producer. He is forty-two years old, married with four children.

Kanye West at a recent event

A product of a broken home Kanye grew up to be a brash and outspoken young man who was not afraid of controversy. In fact, he seemed to thrive in it, having clashed with the who-is-who in the hip-hop music genre. He loved fashion, craved attention and sought for both.

He was known for his cursings and swear-words often expressed in his music, in bizarre tweets and outrageous announcements.

All that appeared to have changed when Kanye himself announced at an event in Washington DC, the USA that he had converted to Christianity and wouldn't be doing secular music anymore.

That announcement, however, would not stop the controversies as he again stirred the hornet nest with the release of his latest album called Jesus is King on 25th of October 2019.

Jesus Is King Album

The eleven-track compilation highlights West's dramatic conversion from producing albums that are egoistic, vile and full of cursings to producing a full Christian album where he was giving praise and adoration to God.

Jesus is King features an intro titled Every Hour as well as other tracks like Selah, Follow God and Jesus is Lord, each masterfully produced with strong vocals and instrumentation drawing the listener into a journey of knowing, loving and experiencing Jesus God.

In Selah (which means Pause and Think) for instance, Kanye speaks of his mistakes in the past, and how he has been reformed by God and now wants to be fully committed to spreading this message to others. 

The Church antagonises him...
One would have thought that with such public profession and affection for Jesus Christ, the Church community which also professes Jesus, would accept Kanye with open arms and fellowship!

However, the Church community to which Kanye turned to, would have none of it, especially the older generation. They queried Kanye's motives and doubted that his intentions were true. And maybe rightly so. Like the older brother in the proverbial story of the prodigal son, they could not dissociate this 'new' Kanye from his past.

How can an artist who has publicly declared that 'I am god' in one of his albums titled 'Yeezus' (which itself is an oxymoron of the name Jesus), has been rumoured to have had pacts with the devil, made all sorts of derogatory comments against Christ, suddenly turn around and start professing Jesus as King?

In professing to be a god in Yeezus, he had equated himself to the Lord Jesus, deserving of worship just like John Lennon of the famed Beatles of the 60s said that they were more popular than Jesus Christ. 'That's blasphemy!', the Church roars!!!

Kanye however debunked these claims in a recent interview where he declared that :

“Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the Gospel to let people know what Jesus has done for me. You know, I’ve spread a lot of things. There was a time when I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me. I was letting you know what the Hennessey had done for me. I was letting you know all these things. But now I’m letting you know what Jesus has done for me. And in that, I’m no longer a slave. I’m a son now — a son of God. I’m free.”

And indeed, the younger generation of Christians seem to agree with Kanye and his newfound profession. His weekly, strictly by invitation program tagged Church Services is widely received by the Youths as well as other mainstream Christian  Gospel artists

My Thoughts

I am of the opinion that even though celebrity artistes can feign repentance to gain access to some share of the gospel market to boost their sales, however, genuine repentance cannot be feigned and usually produces fruit over time.

That said, the Church is supposed to provide succour and rest for even the vilest offender who genuinely repents and turns to God. Such a one should be received with wide open arms and supported.

Would Kanye West stay true to his profession or would he go the way of Robert Kelly (R. Kelly) who hobnobbed with the Church, professing Christianity whenever he wanted to release a Christian album only to fall out with the Church after the album is released? (By the way, R. Kelly is currently in detention for child molestation?) Only time will tell. 

In the interim though, his efforts to proclaim the Gospel should be supported while he is properly taught and discipled on the truths of the kingdom. As he himself rightly declares 'Im only a new convert'.

'But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.'

May Jesus who he is proclaiming to be King indeed uphold him and make him stand in his newfound faith and profession.

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